HOLE NOTES
On the Cover: Minnesota National GC
On this page: Ballmarks at the 3M Open
HOLE NOTES
Hole Notes (ISSN 108-27994) is digitally published bi-monthly, 6 issues per year, by the Minnesota Golf Course Superinendents’ Association, PO Box 2028, Maple Grove, MN 55311. Chris Aumock Publisher. Please send any address changes, articles for submission, advertising and concerns to chris@mgcsa.org.
Board Members
President
Mark Michalski
Vice President
Nikk Dickerson
Secretary/Treasurer
John Cameron
Ex-Officio
Mike Sonnek
Director
Jacob Dixon
Director JT Hauser
Director
Adam Lesmeister
Director Jason Scharfencamp
Director Kyle Stirn
Executive Director Chris Aumock
Editor
Chris Aumock
chris@mgcsa.org
Presidential Perspective
By: Mark Michalski Chisago Lakes Golf Course
August already? Seems crazy that it is, the golf course is very busy but as the kids get a little older life outside of work is very busy as well. Soccer, camping, fishing. It’s been a great summer of getting out and enjoying the great outdoors even when not at work.
The weather couldn’t be much more perfect right now, the only thing that could be better is the seasonal staff hanging around just a little bit longer. It’s been great having the youngsters here and it’s definitely a bummer when they head back to school but such is the circle of our season at our courses. Soon blowing leaves will be part of the daily ritual, coming to work with the heat on
and leaving with the windows open in the truck, going for donuts during a frost delay. Fall is coming and hopefully with that the opportunity to knock a few projects off the list at the course.
If you haven’t already, sign up for “The Championship” on September 9th at River Oaks in Cottage Grove. Hope you are able to make it out and play. Also don’t forget to pencil your calendar in for October 8th and sign up to play in “The Scramble” which will be at Stoneridge Golf Club in Stillwater. Hope to see you there for that as well. Hope you all have a good rest of your seasons and please reach out if there’s anything I can do for you.
This issue is also available in audio format!! Suscribe to the MGCSA Hole Notes Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or find it online at Buzzsprout.
2024 Diamond Partners
Thank you to our 2024 affiliate partners for your continued support of the MGCSA!
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GOLF
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STEWARDSHIP GRANT PROGRAM: KELLER GOLF COURSE
BY: PAUL DIEGNAU, CGCS
In 2003, our environmental programming on the golf course really accelerated with the establishment of a partnership with our local watershed district, the Ramsey Washington Metro Watershed District. Their District Biologist was interested in using Keller as a demonstration and teaching site, concentrating on stormwater management, water quality improvement and habitat modification. As a certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, we were more than excited to collaborate.
With funding and labor provided by RWMWD for many of our
projects over the years, we have restored approximately 30 acres of prairie, woodland, and shoreline. We began utilizing professional-grade interpretive signage to assist in getting our message out to the golfers. We were fortunate to obtain an MGCSA Stewardship Grant in 2023 for additional interpretive signage.
We often get questions from golfers regarding the identification of various plant species in our prairie areas. To assist with identification, in 2022, we installed a native plant garden in a high traffic area
between our ninth green and the clubhouse. Using MGCSA grant money, we designed, purchased, and installed an interpretive sign for this garden to complete this project. We also used grant funds to purchase additional plant identification tags for species recently added to the garden. Upon completion of the garden project, we had remaining monies from the grant program. We’ve had an osprey nesting platform on our property by the 12th fairway since the late 90’s that was the focus of an Eagle Scout project by a local Boy Scout. It took ospreys 10 years to show
any interest in the platform and 18 years before the first serious nesting attempt. Now the platform is very active and highly successful. We wanted to share our osprey journey with golfers, so we designed and purchased another sign and installed it below the nest site.
Thank you to the MGCSA for providing opportunities such as this to golf courses across the state. We hope to continue spreading the word about the good work being done on golf courses regarding their positive environmental impacts.
Opposite page, above, and below: Examples of Keller signage.
MGCSA NEW MEMBERS - July/August 2024
Ryan Madden
Riley Scofield
FMC Affiliate
St. Croix National Golf Course Class C
Tucker Christiansen Applewood Hills Class C
Kyle Cederberg
The Ponds Golf Course Class A
2024 Par Aide Joseph S. Garske & MGCSA Legacy Scholarship Recipients
Left: Kylie Knodel
Bottom Left: Makayla Persaud
Bottom Right: Meghan Ische
JOSEPH S. GARSKE
RECIPIENT
KYLIE KNODEL
Parent: Mike Knodel
Mike is the Superintendent and Owner at Oakdale Golf Club.
Kylie will be a senior at South Dakota State University this upcoming year. She is majoring in Business Economics and has a minor in land valuation and rural real estate. After graduation, she plans to pursue a career in business while also obtaining her real estate license. Kylie enjoys spending her free time with
MGCSA LEGACY RECIPIENT
MAKAYLA PERSAUD
Grandparent: Mike Kelly
Mike is with Environmental Agronomics.
My granddaughter, Makayla, graduated from Blaine High School with highest honors. Throughout her time in high
friends and family and loves to be outdoors; particularly golfing.
school, she took part in community, school, and church service. One highlight from her service is her participation in The Penguin Project, mentoring young individuals with special needs and assisting them in performing in a musical. She also led a similar group at her high school called Bengal Buddies. Bengal Buddies was a program for students with special needs to participate
in fun activities alongside mainstreamed students.
At Blaine High School, Makayla was involved in theatre, yearbook, book club, tutoring, orchestra, and National Honors Society. Within these groups she held many leadership roles, including clerk for theatre, copy/ design editor for yearbook, vice president for book club, and secretary for NHS. Makayla fell in love with theatre in high school and plans to continue participation both onstage and backstage in college. She has a passion for languages as well. She has had classes in Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. She is excited to move onto college in the fall and continue to pursue her passions.
Makayla will be attending Gustavus Adolphus College. She
MGCSA LEGACY RECIPIENT
MEGHAN ISCHE
Parent: Jeff Ische
Jeff is a Senior Product Manager in The Toro Company’s
plans to complete an individual major for Communication Sciences and Disorders to pursue a career in speech language pathology. She also hopes to minor in at least one language. She looks forward to all the opportunities she will have in college.
Commercial division and an affiliate member of the MGCSA.
Meghan Ische of Cologne, MN is a 2023 Magna Cum Laude graduate of Minnetonka HS. While in high school she volunteered at youth church,
horse and community theatre camps, she was a student board member for Many Hands Many Meals, did Adopt-a-Highway roadside cleanup and started a peer to peer emotional support group at her high school. She also competed on the cross country running and Nordic ski teams. Currently Meghan attends the University of Vermont where she will begin her second year in their Registered Nursing program and working towards a minor in Spanish. She also competes on the club equestrian and Nordic ski teams. She was named to the Dean’s List both semesters her first year and is looking forward to getting deeper into the nursing curriculum.
After graduation she hopes to spend a couple years utilizing her nursing skills in under-developed Spanish speaking countries. Thank you to Par Aide and the MGCSA for generously sponsoring these scholarships!
2024 3M OPEN
No manures, made to FDA feed grade standards
• Continuous feeding for 115-150 days
• Uniform color from tee to green
• 27 amino acids safe for animals and wildlife
• 7 organic nitrogen, 7 phosphorus, and 7 potassium sources
• Calcium, magnesium, sulfur, carbon, and all essential micronutrients
• Proprietary formulation keep nutrients in the root zone longer
• Organic nutrients control leaching even in extreme weather
• Greens and Fairway Grade
• FDA feed ingredients ensure safety in application and play
That title, I know you’ve heard that before, but what’s being done? What are you doing? Whether you like it or not, it’s a team effort. Every little bit helps. We are always talking about H2B, the EPA, property taxes and so on. What you might not know, is a little something called the “Sin List”.
Your Advocacy Matters
Randy Robinson, GCSAA
Central Plains Field Staff Representative
What is the “Sin List” you ask? It is 144(c)(6)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code. Here is the exact wording of the code.
“No portion of the proceeds of such issue is to be used to provide (including the provision of land for) any private or commercial golf course, country club, massage parlor, hot tub facility, suntan facility, racetrack or other facility used for gambling, or any store the principal business of which is the sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption off premises”
You might be saying, wait, what??? If you are, I get it, we all get it. This section of the IRS Code, born in the 1976 Tax Reform Act and later updated in the 1986 Tax Reform Act, renders the United States golf industry as disqualified and unworthy of various forms of disaster relief and economic stimulus programs that are available to other businesses, such as restaurants, hotels, and attractions. That’s right, if your property gets hit by a tornado or a flood, you are not eligible to receive any federal help. No money and no FEMA!
Well, guess what, we aren’t putting up with it anymore. We have been fighting this for many many years and it’s not just us, it’s the whole American Golf Industry Coalition. The times have changed, the original code was written to support economic development during a recession when the golf industry mainly consisted of private country clubs. The exclusionary nature of the code has since been utilized in ways not originally intended. You should know, we are making progress, slowly.
Golf is not the same as it was 50 years ago. Currently, the golf industry is made up of 15,000 small businesses, 80% of which provide pubic recreational experiences for nearly 30 million Americans and contribute nearly $5 billion to charity.
Not just that, but the industry supports nearly 2 million jobs and annually contributes $102 billion in economic impact.
We’ve seen severe damage in my region this year, whether it be tornadoes or flooding. I’ve heard of courses that might not open back up because of the damage. I bet they could’ve used a little help from the federal government.
Just know, that these government issues are out there, and we need all the help we can get to protect the industry that we love and rely on to care for ourselves and our loved ones. If there are two things that your elected officials will listen to, one is the voter, and I’ll let you guess the second.
Cheers
MN National Exposure
Thank you to our host Brandon Popp, our sponsors, and all of our participants for another successful NE Exposure Event!
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White Golf Course Superintendent
Roll It Forward
By: Matson
Gravelle
Thank you to Reed Boem for nominating me for this issue of Roll It Forward. Reed is a great guy with whom I always have good conversations regarding our industry and what he is experiencing at his golf course.
My name is Matson Gravelle. I am 33 years young and am
currently the Golf Course Superintendent at Bemidji Town and Country Club. This is my 4th season at BTCC. I was born and raised in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
My passion for the game of golf started in my early childhood when my family would visit my grandparents in Clear Lake,
Iowa. They had a local par 30 where you would pay $9 dollars for unlimited golf for the day. Driver, 5 Iron, 7 Iron, wedge, putter, a handful of golf balls and a Snickers bar were all I needed to play all day! Growing up, I idolized Tiger Woods. The run of golf he displayed from the early to late 2000’s
was truly remarkable. I still vividly remember watching the Masters Tournament with my Dad where he chipped in on hole 16. An hour after he won that tournament, I had my parents bring me out to the driving range to hit golf balls.
In high school I received my
Photos provided by Matson Gravelle
green thumb working at The Golf Zone, which was a year-round driving range. In the summer we had a natural putting course and a few practice greens. This is where I learned how to walk mow greens and cut new golf holes. Naturally there was a lot of down time during our working hours. I found a bladed 6 iron in the lost and found, and there I actually learned how to hit a golf ball. The job was tough and dirty, the perfect high school job for me.
After high school, I attended
Mankato State University where I found myself going to school with no purpose. I decided to take a year off school to reevaluate what my future would hold. I ended up working for a property maintenance company. Through this job, I learned that I enjoyed waking up early in the morning, putting in a good day of work and then having the rest of the day to do whatever I desired. I found myself most afternoons at the golf course. Never having worked at a golf course, I decided to enroll in the Turf Program
at the University of MinnesotaCrookston. I figured I liked working early mornings, I don’t mind getting dirty and I have true passion for the game of golf. What could go wrong…
Through my schooling, I did a couple of internships at Grand View Lodge, working for Mike and Chad Boenstingle. These guys introduced me to the turf industry and what it would take to have a career in the industry. They are still some of the hardest-working people I have ever met in this industry and I have a lot of respect for them. Working at Grand View, I knew that one day I wanted to try to be a golf course superintendent in Northern Minnesota.
a golf course. The property is over 1000 acres and has four golf courses. All four golf courses were managed differently from the Championship Course
After college I was hired to be an assistant in training at Cog Hill, located 30 minutes outside of Chicago. It was the perfect place to learn how to grow and manage
“Dubsdread,” compared to the lower-end courses. Every day was organized chaos, and it taught me how to think on my feet and roll with the punches. My mentor Chris Flick, Director of Grounds at Cog Hill, truly taught me how to grow grass. Six years at Cog Hill and I was ready and wanting to run my own show.
This will be my 4th season at Bemidji Town and Country Club. It is a blessing to work on such beautiful property every day and have such a supportive membership. I am lucky to work with a great staff throughout the golfing season. This is truly what I love most about our industry: the relationships and trust built working with great people. One person cannot run a golf course by themselves; you need a great team around you.
My favorite part about living in Bemidji is all the lakes that surround us. I am an avid
fisherman, and I was lucky enough to purchase a home on a lake 10 miles north of Bemidji.
I once left work, drove home, hopped in my boat and caught a walleye in 20 minutes. This has to be some type of record! In my other free time I enjoy hiking with my dog Ellie, traveling, and following the pathetic Minnesota Sports teams.
I would like to nominate Keith Krause, Territory Sales Rep of Harrells. He is a knowledgeable guy when it comes to turf and has been a good friend.
GOLF COURSE MUSINGS
Share your strange, funny, and unique photos from your time on a golf course? Send your images to chris@mgcsa.org.
It’s nice to see the Superintendent listed for the Olympics Golf!
2024 Wee One
BRACKETT’S CROSSING COUNTRY CLUB
Monday, October 14th, 2024
11:00 Registration & lunch
12:00 PM Shotgun start
5:00 PM Prizes & dinner reception (cash bar)
Proper golf attire
$190/Individual
$760/Foursome
*Includes mulligans & skins
Register online at mgcsa.org
Registration deadline Oct. 8
NEW IN 2024: MULLIGANS AND SKINS ARE INCLUDED WITH YOUR REGISTRATION. THE RAFFLE WILL BE SIMPLIFIED, WITH PROPORTIONALLY LESS TICKETS, UTILIZING NAMES INSTEAD OF NUMBERS. ALL TICKETS WILL GO INTO ONE BUCKET, WINNER WILL CHOOSE THEIR PREFFERRED ITEM.
Pro Shop Certificates - 1st, 2nd, 3rd Place
50/50 Gross Skins Game - now included in registration
Bullseye Challenge - $5 per ball, 4 for $20
Wee Putt Contest prior to shotgun - $100 Prize
Iron Challenge - Winners draw down for $150 Gift Card
Featured Raffle Prizes - $5/1 ticket or $20 for 4
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GET TO KNOW ‘EM
Brandon
Popp
Minnesota
National
Golf Course
FACILITY INFO
Public or Private: Public
Number of Holes: 27 Holes (Exec. 9)
Full time employees: 2
Seasonal employees (not including full time): 20
Total Acreage: 700 Acres, ~150 maintained
Greens & Tees Acreage: 10
Turf Types: Bluegrass, Bent, Poa
Fairway Acreage: 32
Rounds/Year: 18,000
PERSONAL TURF FACTS:
How many years have you been in your current position? 11 years
How many years have you been in the turf industry? 16 years
Where else have you worked? Ran a landscape company
Turf School Attended (if any)? Anoka Tech
INDUSTRY THOUGHTS:
What is one “master plan” thing you would like to change at your shop?
Irrigation system is starting to see its age. It wasn’t overbuilt, and our bunkers are terrible. We need to decide on overall plans, so right now we are just maintianing them as able.
What concerns do you have the turf business and the future of golf? We did have water shutoff a few years ago due to low lake levels, but we had enough water in holding ponds to get by. We were able to connect deep well to the full course to get by.
What is needed to bring more young professional into the industry? Developing local kids. Finding the right balance of work and life for young kids. We set a standard schedule and stick to it, the golf course will be here tomorrow.
What piece of equipment do you want? Not a need, a want. We have been very fortunate, that we are not really missing
much. We’ve been supported well in equipment and assets, basically getting what we asked for, by not overasking, then thye know its a need if we ask for it.
Do you have any unique techniques or approaches you do at your course? We really don’t, as this is really the only course I’ve been at, so mostly learning on the job, and not learning from other Superintendents. The demand is not as high, so there are not many situations where people are telling us what to do, so that stress is not there and we can just maintain the course.
FUN FACTS
Have you ever met a celebrity? Who? I have not.
What is your favorite vacation spot? We go to Mexico quite a bit, usually yearly just north of Playa, for the last 4-5 years. We live here, with access to the lake, so we are already living the lake life.
What is your favorite memory of starting your turf career or a funny story? We’ve definitely learned as we go, having not worked at other course or with other supers, so we’ve made some decisions that could’ve led to different results. A lot of learning after the fact.
What is your favorite job on the shop? I don’t mind mowing greens, Triplex, as we dont walk mow.
What is your least favorite job on the golf course? I don’t think there is anything here that I absolutely despise doing. We cross train everywhere, to the best of our ability, to keep everyone from despising tasks. Maybe digging up an irrigation head!
Have you played any famous golf courses? Which ones? Not really.
Who is your dream foursome? Tiger would be fun, any of those, Jordan, JD, Rory would be fun. Just a couple golfers.
What is one piece of advise that you’ve recieved in your career that still resonates today? Im going to go back to the work life balance. It can make you or destroy you really quick. We used to talk about it but not
implement it. You can make or break your reputation quickly just by how you treat people. We are well liked amongst the community and people want to work for us. They know we are going to treat you fair and they want to work for us. We are teaching life lessons, and kids and their parents are providing that feedback to us.
Don’t miss the extended conversation with Brandon on this months Hole Notes Podcast!
If you would like to participate in a future Get to Know ‘Em, please reach out to chris@mgcsa.org.
Worthington Exposure
Thank you to our host Superintendent, Kyle Martin, our sponsors, and all of our participants!
What do we recreational athletes want? Weed-free sports turf!
By: Dr. Michael Barnes, UMN
Sports turf (e.g. golf courses, soccer fields) are an important part of cities, providing places for people of all ages and abilities to engage in sports. From golf scrambles to youth soccer tournaments, these specialized areas of turf offer significant recreational opportunities. Sports turf areas are also heavily maintained requiring special care for playability and aesthetics. Weeds can make sports turf appear uncared for and unsafe. Many pest and weed control methods are available, with herbicides being a common
choice for managing weeds. However, there are growing concerns about the effects of herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers on health and the environment. While researchers have done a significant amount of work on understanding how people view herbicide use in parks and lawns and found that individuals are generally hesitant and resistant to the use of such products in such areas.
Conversely, much less is known about sports turf users’ opinions about the use of weed control
methods on sports turf areas. To address this gap, we created a study that used an online survey of adult recreational athletes in Minnesota to understand attitudes towards weeds on sports fields and more specifically perceptions of various weed control methods, their effectiveness, effects on environmental and human health, and support for their use. Participants were shown a figure which illustrated different levels of weediness alongside approximate weediness resulting from different treatment methods. This figure was referenced multiple times as participants answered questions related to the acceptability of weeds, safety concerns, and what kinds of weed control methods they supported.
We received a total of 241 complete survey responses. The average age of participants was 30 years old with a range between 18 and 63 and was balanced in terms of gender with 51% female, and 49% male. The most common sports played by participants were: soccer, baseball/softball, and kickball.
Other sports included: golf, ultimate frisbee, and flag football. Broadly, participants wanted weed-free sports fields with 91% of athletes stating that weed-free or low-weed fields are the most acceptable. Participants were most concerned about weeds impacting their performance and enjoyment even at low weediness levels. Safety was a concern but only at higher levels of weediness. This shows that recreational athletes have a strong preference for a weedfree environment to minimize impacts to their performance and overall enjoyment of recreating.
Related to weed control measures specifically, traditional herbicide control methods were viewed as the most effective and also received the highest support for use. While participants perceived traditional herbicide control methods as having higher environmental and human health impacts, they were not significantly different from perceived harms from the integrated pest management (IPM) control method. Organic/ Natural control methods were seen as more effective than not
controlling weeds; however a significant difference existed between both IPM/Traditional Herbicide control methods and Organic/Natural methods. Importantly, athlete support for weed control methods were related to the perceived
Figure presented to participants with each quadrant representing different levels of weediness alongside approximate weediness resulting from different treatment methods.
Follow the UMN Turf Blog for project updates!
effectiveness of the method. Additionally, no differences were found between ratings of both acceptability, or specific weed control methods on a sport by sport basis or via age or gender.
So how do we explain these findings that diverge so dramatically from what we’ve seen in relation to how people feel about the use of herbicides in home lawns and other turf areas such as parks? One possibility is that home lawns and parks perhaps are seen as general use turf areas, while sports turf has a specific use and purpose. As such these special use surfaces are both perceived and interacted with differently by individuals compared to those broader general use turf areas. Stated differently, sports turf is held to different standards than general use turf areas.
Overall, recreational athletes prefer to have no or very little weeds in their sports turf due to possible impacts on their enjoyment and performance and are supportive of the most effective control methods to
achieve a weed free sports field environment. While few respondents were golfers, the findings can directly apply to the context of the course.
Specifically the desire for weed-free turf means that high traffic and visually prominent areas (e.g., tees, greens) should be prioritized to enhance player satisfaction through maintaining high standards of playability and aesthetics.
Ma Cal Grove Exposure
Thank you to our host Superintendent, Tyler Engen, our sponsors, and all of our participants!
From the High Grass
By: Chris Aumock
Thank you for attending MGCSA Events!
When I started in this role, the conversation post-Covid was that people wouldn’t want to attend in-person events anymore, ever. We were worried about the trends in our event participation then, but I currently don’t carry those concerns. I still worry about attendance, as we all still like to register at the last minute, but even then, our members do show up to engage with the association events.
Each fall/winter, as I confirm event venues for the next year, I begin building out my projections. Over the last few years, almost every one of our events has met,
and most have exceeded, my projections for attendance! There are numerous reasons for that, but I must thank several of our affiliate partners for their efforts mobilizing customers in their regions. This support has greatly benefited all MGCSA events.
This summers exposure golf events had 170 MGCSA members registered this summer. That’s averaging 34 players per event (5 events). These numbers have seen steady growth over the last few years, and it’s great to see so many of our outstate members attend and enjoy these casual golf outings. Thank you to all of our
members and affiliates, who have engaged their peers and neighbors to join us and helped support the continued growth of our outstate member support events!
This year also saw the Don White Match Play Event get up to 50 teams, or 100 players! The popularity of this event seems to be infectious, as we have enjoyed continued success of The Don White. And now, we still have room to grow. We could fill out the bracket with up to 64 teams (No more than that)! So, if you haven’t played before, make sure you find a partner before next season’s event. This event couldn’t be successful without the participation of all of the host courses. Thank you to all of you who have offered to host these matches. Let’s all remember, there are so many great courses in our network, let’s try to move the matches around to new places, so we don’t overburden the familiar favorites. This November, we will introduce a new EM Workshop, hoping to further engage and develop our EM membership. This is a member class that we have not
provided many opportunities for, and we hope we can make improvements for our course technicians. As this event gets promoted in the coming weeks, make sure your EM is aware of the educational opportunity on November 6th. New EM members can get a discounted 2025 membership rate when they sign up for the EM Workshop!
The National Hospitality Night, Shop Tours, and the MEGA have seen strong numbers over the last few years as well. Our winter education events have even met my minimum expectations, even though these events are typically harder to fill out. All these events are for you, the members. Again, thank you for supporting them and as always, let us know your ideas for further improvement.
Not everything has been successful of course, as over the last 2 seasons, the Board of Directors has been providing our Member Event Rebate program. Giving each Class Member a $35 credit to one of our events, making many of them free or at least reduced fees. We were excited about this program, and
eager to introduce it to you all last year. Admittingly, it was not as successful as we had hoped! Perhaps it was a lack of awareness and promotion from my end, or confusion on how the promo code worked, but in the end this program will be ending after the Championship next month, as that will be the last eligible event. We are excited to try out these new ideas and are looking forward to presenting more in the coming future, but the board is also aware that some things need to be let go, and we’ll let
this one end without ceremony.
As the 2024 event calendar winds down, remember to sign up for The MGCSA Championship, The Scramble, and The Wee One events in September and October. We look forward to seeing familiar faces, and seeing some new ones as our members keep growing their professional networks. For me, I truly enjoy meeting our members face to face, and I look forward to more chances to meet you all at a future MGCSA event.
